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General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Appropriate Encounter CR
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<blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 6048307" data-attributes="member: 1210"><p>CAVEAT: I don't have Pathfinder and the CR/EL rules may have changed a bit since 3.5, so forgive me any erroneous assumptions I'm operating under.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Um, first of all, 4 CR 1 monsters is EL 5, not EL 4 (1 +2 for doubling to two creatures +2 for doubling again to four creatures). A group of three CR 1 monsters is therefore EL 4.</p><p></p><p>Second, remember that an "appropriate challenge" should deplete about 20% of the party's resources- spells, hps, etc. So don't mistake an "appropriate" challenge for a tough one. </p><p></p><p>Finally, CRs and ELs and all that are an art, not a science. Especially when you use npcs with pc levels- note that a 10th level sorcerer is CR 10, and there are prolly examples of CR 10 monsters with the spellcasting abilities of a 10th level sorcerer on top of their other abilities. So CR and EL break very easily when you try to use them as a real yardstick to measure difficulty, but work very well when you recognize that they give only approximately correct ratings. (Plus, compare the real difficulty of fighting a wraith when the party has a cleric vs. doesn't, or a golem vs. a party with no fighters or all fighter types- the same monster's "degree of challenge" can vary a lot, depending on the pcs.)</p><p></p><p>All that said, if you want a challenge for your party that uses CR 1 monsters, choose a good mixture of CR 1s- perhaps a group of barbarian 1s with Toughness for extra durability screening a 1st-level sorcerer with tons of <em>magic missiles</em> or <em>orb</em> spells, or maybe a healer. Generally speaking, however, the bigger the difference between your party's level and the CR of the individual monsters, the easier of a time your pcs will likely have.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="the Jester, post: 6048307, member: 1210"] CAVEAT: I don't have Pathfinder and the CR/EL rules may have changed a bit since 3.5, so forgive me any erroneous assumptions I'm operating under. Um, first of all, 4 CR 1 monsters is EL 5, not EL 4 (1 +2 for doubling to two creatures +2 for doubling again to four creatures). A group of three CR 1 monsters is therefore EL 4. Second, remember that an "appropriate challenge" should deplete about 20% of the party's resources- spells, hps, etc. So don't mistake an "appropriate" challenge for a tough one. Finally, CRs and ELs and all that are an art, not a science. Especially when you use npcs with pc levels- note that a 10th level sorcerer is CR 10, and there are prolly examples of CR 10 monsters with the spellcasting abilities of a 10th level sorcerer on top of their other abilities. So CR and EL break very easily when you try to use them as a real yardstick to measure difficulty, but work very well when you recognize that they give only approximately correct ratings. (Plus, compare the real difficulty of fighting a wraith when the party has a cleric vs. doesn't, or a golem vs. a party with no fighters or all fighter types- the same monster's "degree of challenge" can vary a lot, depending on the pcs.) All that said, if you want a challenge for your party that uses CR 1 monsters, choose a good mixture of CR 1s- perhaps a group of barbarian 1s with Toughness for extra durability screening a 1st-level sorcerer with tons of [i]magic missiles[/i] or [i]orb[/i] spells, or maybe a healer. Generally speaking, however, the bigger the difference between your party's level and the CR of the individual monsters, the easier of a time your pcs will likely have. [/QUOTE]
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